NEW DELHI: On Saturday, while campaigning for Aam Aadmi Party's New Delhi constituency candidate Brijesh Goyal at Moti Nagar, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was assaulted by a man. The assailant, Suresh Chauhan, climbed on the bonnet of the Maruti Gypsy that Kejriwal was on and appeared to slap him. He was caught by AAP supporters and thrashed before cops deployed for the event rescued the man and admitted him to hospital.

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AAP expressed outrage at the laxity in the security around the CM. Arvind Kejriwal is entitled to Z-category security cover and is accompanied by a detail of 25 police personnel and a pilot car.

Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that Delhi Police "lowers its guard while protecting the CM". AAP MP Sanjay Singh, too, alleged a conspiracy behind the attack. While deputy CM Manish Sisodia tweeted, "Do Narendra Modi and Amit Shah now want to get Arvind Kejriwal assassinated?"

More controversy followed when Delhi Police claimed that their probe showed Chauhan, 33, was an AAP supporter and was in the reception group at Moti Nagar and as such the incident could not be blamed on police carelessness. They also said his name was on the list submitted by AAP before the event. Party spokesperson Bharadwaj refuted the contention that Chauhan was an AAP supporter, and claimed that the attacker's wife, Mamata, had herself told the media that her husband was a "Modi bhakt".

The incident occurred around 5.45 pm, when Kejriwal was passing through the Karampura market between Moti Nagar and Kirti Nagar. Chauhan, wearing a red shirt, climbed onto the bonnet of the vehicle and tried to slap the CM before he was pulled away by Goyal.

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